From Ground Zero to California, politicians are promising to keep America safe from Sharia law and Muslim conspiracies. Fearmongering and the election season.

An opponent of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero at a meeting of the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, Aug. 3, 2010. The commission voted not to landmark the building, making way for the construction of the mosque. (AP)

The Ground Zero mosque in New York has gotten the biggest headlines, but that controversy is part of a broader movement in some Republican circles that sees a real and present danger: the “Islamization” of America.

Loved our show on Lead Belly, but unsure on where you should start to listen? Jeff Place of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage offers his best picks for a beginning Lead Belly listener.

We won’t lead you into a debate on the color of #TheDress (it’s blue and black, end of debate), but we do wonder about the blurring lines between so-called Internet culture and general popular culture. Also, it’s snowing in Boston. Still.